This invention relates generally to ovens and, more particularly, to an oven operable in speedcooking, microwave, and convection/bake modes.
Ovens typically are either, for example, microwave, radiant, or thermal/convection cooking type ovens. For example, a microwave oven includes a magnetron for generating RF energy used to cook food in an oven cooking cavity. Although microwave ovens cook food more quickly than radiant or thermal/convection ovens, microwave ovens do not brown the food. Microwave ovens therefore typically are not used to cook as wide a variety of foods as radiant or thermal/convection ovens.
Radiant cooking ovens include an energy source such as lamps which generate light energy used to cook the food. Radiant ovens brown the food and generally can be used to cook a wider variety of foods than microwave ovens. Radiant ovens, however, cook many foods slower than microwave ovens.
In thermal/convection ovens, the food is cooked by the air in the cooking cavity, which is heated by a heat source. Standard thermal ovens do not have a fan to circulate the hot air in the cooking cavity. Convection ovens use the same heat source as a standard thermal oven, but add a fan to increase cooking efficiency by circulating the hot air around the food. Thermal/convection ovens cook the widest variety of foods. Such ovens, however, do not cook as fast as radiant or microwave ovens.
One way to achieve speedcooking in an oven is to include both microwave and radiant energy sources in a microwave assist mode. The combination of microwave and radiant energy sources facilitates fast cooking of foods. In addition, and as compared to microwave only cooking, a combination of microwave and radiant energy sources can cook a wider variety of foods.
Microwave assist ovens do not feature multirack cooking in their speedcook modes or do not recommend cooking multiple racks of food in the speedcook mode. With the addition of multiple racks in the oven, evenness of cooking becomes a greater issue. The relative position of food within the cooking cavity with respect to the air flow paths within the oven impacts the evenness of cooking. For example, if a portion of the food is directly in the flow path of air from the convection fan, such food portion may cook more quickly than another portion of the food that is not in the direct air flow path. Uneven cooking can cause variation in browning and a darkening around the edges in baked products.
In one aspect, an oven includes a cooking cavity, a plurality of racks within the cooking cavity, an RF generation module operationally coupled to the cooking cavity and configured to deliver microwave energy into the cooking cavity, at least one heat source positioned within the cavity and configured to supply heat energy to the cooking cavity, and a control configured to accept data regarding said plurality of racks, the control operationally coupled to the RF generation module, and the at least one heat source for selective control thereof based on the accepted data.
In another aspect, a method for operating a multirack oven having a microcomputer, an RF generation module, a bake element, a broil element, and a convection element, includes, obtaining at least one input from a user indicative of whether the oven is to operate in a microwave mode, a convection mode, a bake mode, a broil mode, and a speedcooking mode, obtaining a further input from a user indicative of a number of racks, and energizing the RF generation module, the bake element, the broil element, and the convection element in accordance with the user input.
In yet another aspect, a method for operating a speedcook oven in a speedcook mode, includes, receiving an indication of a number of racks, operating the oven in a predetermined radiant cooking cycle based on the received indication of a number of racks, operating the oven in a predetermined microwave cooking cycle based on the received indication of a number of racks, operating the oven in a predetermined convection fan cycle based on the received indication of a number of racks, and wherein the operating steps are performed concurrently for a user specified cooking time.